2020 Chicago White Sox

2020 Chicago White Sox / Franchise: Chicago White Sox / BR Team Page

Record: 35-25, Finished 3rd in AL Central Division (2020 AL) Wild Card

Clinched Division: September 17, 2020, Minnesota Twins

Managed by Rick Renteria

Coaches: Daryl Boston, Nick Capra, Scott Coolbaugh, Don Cooper, Curt Hasler, Joe McEwing and Frank Menechino

Ballpark: Guaranteed Rate Field

History, Comments, Contributions

The 2020 Chicago White Sox entered the abbreviated season in the unfamiliar position of being popular favorites to be postseason contenders, because their years of rebuilding were about to pay off. Three young players, 3B Yoan Moncada, OF Eloy Jimenez and P Lucas Giolito had had break-out seasons in 2019; another phenom, OF Luis Robert, was ready to join them, and 2B Nick Madrigal was also on the cusp. They had the defending batting champion in SS Tim Anderson and the RBI leader in José Abreu. They complemented this solid core with some free agent signings, most prominent of which were C Yasmani Grandal, P Dallas Keuchel and DH Edwin Encarnacion.

The White Sox were known for their links to Cuba in recent years, having been the first team in decades to include four Cuban players in their line-up in 2014. On August 1st, they did one better, as the first four batters in the order in an 11-5 win over the Kansas City Royals were all born in Cuba: CF Robert; 3B Moncada; 1B Abreu and C Grandal. It was the first time in major league history this had happened. On August 16th, they hit four consecutive homers for only the 10th time in major league history, in the 5th inning of a 7-2 win over the St. Louis Cardinals. The Cuban connection was in evidence again, as the batters going deep were Moncada, Grandal, Abreu and Jimenez all going deep off rookie Roel Ramirez, who was making his major league debut. It was the first such instance since June 9th of the previous year, when the Washington Nationals had pulled off the feat against the San Diego Padres, and the second time in team history, as on August 14, 2008, Jim Thome, Paul Konerko, Alexei Ramirez and Juan Uribe had done so against the Royals. This instance also marked the first time three Cuban-born players had homered consecutively. In their next game, against the Detroit Tigers on August 17th, they hit another 6 homers in a 7-2 win. Robert and Anderson led off the game with back-to-back homers off Matthew Boyd, repeating something they had done just five days earlier against Boyd. It was the first time such an event had occurred twice in the same season. They set a new club record for homer in a month during August when they hit their 52nd on August 29th.

Awards and Honors

• AL MVP: José Abreu
• AL Gold Glove: Luis Robert (CF)
• AL Silver Slugger Award: José Abreu (1B), Tim Anderson (SS) and Eloy Jimenez (OF)
• 2020 Topps All-Star Rookie Team: Luis Robert (OF)

Further Reading

• Blake Schuster: "White Sox Clinch 2020 MLB Playoff Berth with Win vs. Twins", Bleacher Report September 17, 2020
• Scott Merkin: "Sox make history with 4 Cubans atop lineup", mlb.com, August 2, 2020. [1]
• Jorge L. Ortiz: "With phenom Luis Robert ready, the rebuild may be complete. Can the White Sox compete in 2020?", USA Today, February 21, 2020. [2]

2020 MLB season by team